The results of AAI’s seminal project on Entrepreneurship and Antitrust were published in a special symposium issue of the Antitrust Bulletin. AAI Director and Senior Fellow Gregory T. Gundlach and AAI President Diana Moss are guest editors for the issue, which appears at Antitrust Bulletin 2016, Vol. 61(4). The project was made possible by a grant from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation.
The AAI’s focus on antitrust and entrepreneurship is motivated by the importance of entrepreneurial activity for competition and economic growth. Recent research documents the slowing pace of entry into the economy by new firms and the increasing rate of failure of many early-stage firms. There are growing indications that these outcomes may be linked to growing consolidation but theoretical and practical limitations inherent to existing antitrust analysis tend to systemically undervalue entrepreneurial activity.
The special issue of the Antitrust Bulletin includes seven articles and six comments that take up key questions concerning the relationship between antitrust and entrepreneurship. The papers examine the important relationship between entrepreneurial activity and competition policy and enforcement that is key to an economy that revolves around job creation, investment, equality, innovation, higher living standards, consumer benefits, and the long-term vibrancy of the economy.
Authors and commenters examine a variety of issues and questions. These include the risk-taking, initiative, and entrepreneurial drive that make up the mindset of successful entrepreneurs; and the requisite competition enforcement environment that fosters the recognition and development of business opportunities that define the entrepreneurial process. Contributors to the report also examine aspects of entrepreneurial activity that challenge competition and economic growth.
View abstracts for the articles and comments from the Report on Antitrust and Entrepreneurship here.
